Cluster Bomb Ban Closer to Ratification: UN
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations announced that a 30th country had signed on to the international convention banning cluster bombs, paving the way for the document to come into force on August 1.
“The United Nations received today the 30th instrument of ratification for the Convention on Cluster Munition,” said a statement from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s press office.
“The Secretary-General welcomes this major advance on the global disarmament agenda, and notes that the Convention’s entry into force just two years after its adoption demonstrates the world’s collective revulsion at the impact of these terrible weapons,” according to the UN statement.
“Cluster munitions are unreliable and inaccurate. During conflict and long after it has ended, they maim and kill scores of civilians, including many children,” the UN said.
The munitions can also impair post-conflict recovery by making roads and land inaccessible to farmers and aid workers, the statement added.
Burkina Faso and Moldova were the 29th and 30th countries to sign on for ratification after the Convention was opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008.
“The short time it took to reach this milestone shows that governments have a strong desire never to see these terrible weapons used again,” said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch.
The convention prohibits the use, production, and trade in cluster munitions and requires assistance to victims of the weapons.
“In light of this new international law, it is especially important for former users of the weapon — such as the United States, Russia, and Israel — to re-examine their positions, which put questionable claims of military necessity above the well-documented humanitarian damage cluster munitions cause,” Goose said.
© 2010 Agence France-Presse
I think the message that we send to the world is that we refuse to sign because of all the money that is made by United States in building and selling them. Not to long ago I read a book about Princess Diana’s work to ban the use of cluster bombs because of all the injured, maimed, and killed children. She believed very strongly that they must be banned and was willing to do what she could to achieve that goal. In this book I read it said that the United States was one of the bigger sellers of the cluster bombs.
For once we agree, the death of children picking up these bombs is horrific. We should move to have them classed as a crime against humanity, but the ZOG will veto that proposal too.
Garfield, for some reason your comment ended up in spam so therefore the delay in being approved.
lol, I’ve called many things but never spam!
lol. Glad you have a good sense of humor, lol.